IRA row: Warrington Brexit MEP candidate quits

Claire Fox said she did not condone the use of violence

A Brexit Party candidate for Warrington has quit at the failure of another would-be MEP to apologise for comments about the IRA bombing of the town.

European elections candidate Sally Bate said she had resigned because Claire Fox refused to condemn the attack.

Fox was a leading member of the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP) which defended the 1993 bombing.

Ms Bate said Nigel Farage should remove her from the party list and "stand together with victims of the atrocity".

'Freedom struggle'

Tim Parry, 12, and Johnathan Ball, three, were killed in the IRA attack on 20 March which left 56 others injured.

An RCP newsletter at the time of the bomb stated that the party defended "the right of the Irish people to take whatever measures necessary in their struggle for freedom".

Tim's father Colin Parry has urged voters in the North West to reject Ms Fox because she did not offer any apology for her former views.

In a statement, Ms Fox said: "Terrible things happened - mercifully, a peaceful resolution has emerged following the Good Friday Agreement."

Top of list

She added: "I do not condone the use of violence."

Ms Fox is top of the list of Brexit Party candidates for the North West, meaning she would be the first to claim any European Parliament seat which the group wins in elections on 23 May.

Ms Bate was listed seventh.

Announcing her resignation from the Brexit Party, Ms Bate said: "I am unhappy with Claire's statement since she has not categorically condemned the violence inflicted by the IRA.

"I stand by Colin Parry and his family and all victims of the Warrington bomb and in view of Claire's ambiguous position on the issue I cannot continue to stand beside her as a Brexit candidate..."